Sound of Silence
by pinklettuceleaf
Summary: A story that is kind of an xmen fanfic, but it isn't. This is a story that I've had 1 version of most times in my life, and I love it. Excuse ch1, not v good
1. Prologue

Summer was beautiful in Bahari. The sun would cause the water to seem even more alive, glass patterns and stardust rippled in the waves while the foaming horses raced towards Song and her sister, Emily. The twins would run about the sandy beach, occasionally pausing to settle any disputes between themselves but mainly sharing each childhood joy with each other. Both would tire themselves out as much as they pleased, allowing themselves to become caked with sand and dirt only so they could refresh themselves in the cool waters. They knew that after a day at their beach with its rock pools and swirling sands, they could always count that after running home through the meadows and woodland, Mother would take them in and serve them with freshly made lemonade and her baking.

Mother was a curiosity as well as a love for them; her hands were always deep-rooted with soil and dirt, her apron covered in grass stains. After feeding them she would talk to them for a long, long time, allowing them to fiddle with her naturally green hair as she spoke. To them she was everything; all they could remember from their birth was this tall, willowing woman and her husband, Shadow. They had taken them in after their mother had died and cared for them as if they were their own children, their father was a dear friend of theirs, they said, and their mother had done them a great service. None of this mattered to the children, for none of the hurts of the world had yet made their mark upon them. They were as innocent as the fish that swum unwillingly into Shadow's nets, all they knew was happiness. They made no connection between Mother's hair and her gardening skills, the way plants seemed to grow from her hands, and Shadow's seemingly impossible ability to blend in with the boat in which he sat was commonplace.

Song was a small child, always shy. She seemed dwarfed by her younger twin in both the willingness to make friends and size. Anyone who saw the blonde next to her blue-haired sister would ask Emily how her younger sister did, but Song didn't mind. They were best friends, leaders of the gang of village children who took over the beach and the meadow every summer. Ever since they were younger they had shared everything, and all the people in the village made sure to say "hey" when they went by. However Song did notice that they said this to her more than her sister, in fact some strangers would avoid Emily altogether. When she asked Mother about this, she would say that some people weren't able to accept change, and that she and her sister were always going to be a bit different from others. Emily said that it didn't bother her, so she let it alone for a while. But then she noticed that it happened more often, and she started to look at things around her with a more critical eye, noticing that everyone stared at both of them wherever they went. Even the children whom they played with were a bit more cautious around them, suddenly people seemed to be changing.

"Mother, why do people stare at Emily?"

Mother paused for a while; Song noticed that as she did the flower she was touching shrunk a little.

"Why do you ask this again?

Song couldn't tell if she had done something wrong or not, Mother's eyes weren't sparkling like they usually did, and there were dark rings underneath them. Now that she looked closely at her she realised that she looked tired and unhappy, and wondered why this was so.

"Well, people seem to be almost scared of her and me. It's almost as if we weren't natural."

Maybe it was just Song getting older, but she began to wonder about Mother's hands and their constant greenness, and also about how Emily's and Mother's hair were both coloured different from everyone else. In fact, she was the only one who looked anything like the other kids. Even Shadow, who looked the same, was different. Maybe this was why they stared, but she still didn't really understand why, or why they stared at her as well.

She looked up to see Mother staring at her, almost as if she had read what was going on in her skull. She sighed and shook her head

"As I said before, people stare because they don't like people who are different. They don't want to embrace change, and this change scares them. People have always been like this, and unless something big happens you should get used to the staring."

"But there's nothing wrong with me."

Mother seemed to flinch.

"I thought that you were asking about Emily."

Song said nothing.

"So, are you saying, or not saying, that you think that we as a family are weird, and that you shouldn't be stared at for it?

Song shook her head, Mother nodded gravely.

"People will stare, get used to it. Don't ask me again."

Song watched as she turned back to her plants and how as her hand reached out to touch them, the plants flourished. Then she walked away to go and find her friends, her heart sinking with the sudden weight of unwelcome seriousness.

By their twelfth birthday, some things had changed in their lives that were irreversible. For a start Song had noticed that the children talked to her sister less and less, and that in turn her sister talked to her less and less. Something seemed to bother Emily; Song did not know what it was for her twin no longer told her anything. She had developed an aloofness, she was quiet and spoke only when spoken too, almost acting as if depressed. A week before their birthday when Emily came downstairs for breakfast, her beautiful blue hair that came down to her waist was almost gone. She had come to breakfast wearing a hat, and when asked to remove it her parents had gasped, all that remained of her hair were small, blue tufts. Mother had run out of the room crying. Song had no idea what to do, when she asked her friends at school what went on they merely stared and then walked away.

Secondly, her parents seemed afraid of something. Everyday when she came home from school she would find them in the living room deep in discussion, or with their eyes peeled to the news. People in the town were talking about them, and Song had tried to hear what they said but when they saw her they walked away. She took to reading the newspaper when people had left them out to be collected. All she could gather was something about a group called the Morlocks and a Sinister, but she could not see what this was in relation to her parents or herself.

But despite the changes, their parents still saw their birthday as an affair. Although they didn't have a party, Song and Emily missed school for the day and the family had a day talking at home and walking on the beach. Mother and Shadow tried to be happy and also they all tried to cheer up Emily, who was now even more upset. They also had made a great effort with the presents, Emily's beautiful new silver bracelet and carved wooden box were matched only by the necklace that Song was given. She loved it from the moment she saw it, a thin leather thong with a circular pendant made of sea wood to go around her neck. Both of them smiled and hugged their parents, even Emily seemed happier than usual. They ran up and down the beach like in the old days, dodging the surf and trying to find Shadow, who would melt into a space and leave one part of himself visible. Mother picked each one up and threw them into the sea, ignoring their screams of dismay as they hit the water with a splash.

As evening came, Song was sure that she didn't ever want the day to end. The family stayed on the secluded beach to watch the dragon-sun meet the sea before walking home. They laughed and joked along the way, occasionally bursting into song and laughing more at the look on Emily's face when they asked her to join in and sing.

But the family stopped as screams filled the air around them, and having located the sound ran towards it. It was the village. People were running in every direction, men desperately trying to save their wives and children, dogs barking hysterically and babies crying all around them. They stood in horror as they saw houses collapse before their eyes, suddenly bursting into flames or just falling down as if they were the sandcastles that they had left behind, knocked over by the tide.

The children looked up to the adults, whose faces had drained of colour.

"They knew" said Mother, Shadow's face tightened as he nodded.

Song didn't like what was going on around her, terror filled her as the undesired noises and sights filled her mind.

"What's happening?" she asked, her voice a shrill whisper.

Looking to Emily, she saw an expression of disbelief cross her face. They stood near to their house, the flames occasionally spiralling upwards fiercely as if answering her question for her.

"What's happening?"

Her parents did not answer; they merely stared at each other as if sharing a deep, saddening knowledge.

"What's happening?"

Song felt tension build in the air about her, her breathing became broken as she fought the panic rising inside her, eventually breaking into a run to escape it, only to stop suddenly as she was knocked unconscious, her eyes closing to an image of flame and the beam that had struck her head as she had run through her door. Then all was black.

Swirling mists surrounded wreckages of houses, water falling from the sky causing sparks on the boiling hot surfaces left scattered on the ground. Sounds of moaning filled the air, the moaning and creaking of old houses left to burn too long added to the noise of people's moaning, a deep, low and terrifying noise: the sounds of ghosts and wraiths. Survivors meandered through the debris, looking for anything that was left behind, searching every house for anything that could be valuable, moaning and crying as they went.

One house they left untouched, the house of "those meddling mutants, the stupid Morlocks." No one bothered to wonder about what had become of them, none of them caring. Occasionally someone would stop and look sorrowfully at the saddest house, the one with nothing remaining, the one that was probably all that was left of the pursued, shedding a tear for the lovely family who had lived inside. Around midday more and more people passed it by, finding nothing of value to salvage from their own wrecked houses, they had come to search the house of the mutants.

Swarms of people crawled over the wreckage, lifting up beams and shattered flooring to see what could be found underneath. One person had managed to find something, a beautiful hand-carved wooden box, but that was all. The people eventually left, those who remained joining them seconds later, claiming that the house had moved. Dismissing this as mutant trickery, the townspeople left to find a new home.

At the house, it was true that something had moved; a persistent tapping noise from under the beam was then followed by the beam moving up and down slowly. After what seemed like hours, the beam was thrust aside. Then bit by bit, things were pushed aside, creating an increasingly larger hole in the ruins of the house. Eventually, a girl could be seen slowly edging herself out of that hole, throwing herself outwards onto the muddy ground. She lay there for a while, tired out from the effort put into escaping her death, allowing the mud and the raindrops to mingle in with her clothes and soak her skin, not caring whether or not her blonde hair had now become brown, for she was alive.

After what seemed like years, Song made herself get up. Ignoring her empty stomach, she put her head back and drank some of the rain that fell towards her. All she could think of was the imperative to find her family; she knew that they were around somewhere, looking for her. There was no time to rest. Ever so slowly, she picked her way out of the town and went towards the woods where she knew her family would be hiding. But as she arrived, all she could see was destruction and signs of a battle were everywhere. She screamed as she saw their bodies, side by side were the mutilated remains of her parents, both with expressions equal in fear and pain. Blood was spattered everywhere, and as she looked closer at the bodies she saw to her horror that they had been skinned. The stench of boiling, fire-torn flesh reached her nostrils and she retched, unwillingly taking in the sight of torn limbs hanging from the nearest tree. Moments had passed before she couldn't take it anymore; crying and screaming she ran from the woods, her tears mingling in with the mud and the rain. She threw herself down into the mud, throwing up and tearing at her hair.

It was a long time before she got up again, and as she did she realised that her sister would be dead too. Beautiful Emily, who had been her sibling and her friend from the moment she was born, whom she had recently rejected and allowed to be persecuted by the children at school. For she knew what had been wrong now, why Emily had become withdrawn and why she had cut off her hair, she had been different. The pain was too great for Song to bear, slowly she sat up on the grass, sobbing and moaning. Then, letting back her head, she screamed. The scream filled the area around her, bouncing back from the walls and becoming more and more terrible as it went on. When she had screamed as much as she could, she collapsed again, sudden moaning and crying noises filling her ears. She didn't know where the noises came from, but she could hear everything around her, the creaking of the houses, the rain, the sound of the sea, and the moaning and crying of people in pain. Song tried to block out the noise, the horrors that surrounded her; but she could not.

Pursued by the noise she ran, fearing the effect that her screaming had upon her. She ran and ran until she arrived at the beach, with nowhere else to run. There she knelt down and screamed again, this time noticing the power that came out of her as she did so. Through tear-filled eyes she saw the cliffs tremble around her, the noise also affecting the sea, causing the white horses to gallop towards her in a frenzy. The sand around her rose up as if in a wind, and pebbles on the beach tore themselves apart with her pain. The villagers who had left heard it, and mistook it for a demon pursuing them and ran away. The scream came out long and loud, steadying, but then as if her soul had been let out, Song collapsed onto the sands, and the beach went back to its usual state.

She lay there for a long, long time, not noticing the band of men crowding around her until it was too late.


	2. Chapter 1

Sounds filled her ears, mutilated sounds, evil sounds; the sound of a deep cackle, and more laughter. She curled up like a porcupine, but a boot struck her side, immediately causing her to uncurl. Song glared up at the man who woke her, her eyes flashing with hatred and malice. She opened her mouth to protest, but was kicked again, harder this time.

"No sounds."

Every time she woke, she forgot that she was here, in this Godforsaken place. She forgot everything but her hatred for the people who tortured her daily, the people who kept her here and forbade her to speak. But every morning as she got up she remembered, an increasingly hazy memory would open itself up inside her with a strange clarity for one so warped and changed. All around her the sounds rushed in, a thing that she had become used to over time, she may have been forbidden to use her gift through her voice, but she still knew what went on around her. Song could flee when she knew there was trouble, and prepare herself for an onslaught from her drunken jailors. In truth, her disgusting, foul guards were afraid of her: they knew that there was only one thing preventing her from destroying them.

She attempted to wash the grime off her face, wincing as she saw her reflection in the chipped mirror, noticing the men staring at her from behind. They stared at her openly, and she knew that she was one of the only females who they could get near to, their last captive having run away at the first sight of them, screaming with terror. Song had watched as she had been torn apart, still screaming, as her pursuers caught up with her; she made herself watch, for it was one of the only ways to remind her why the malice burned inside of her, the only way to keep herself under control.

When they had made sure that she was ready, the men pushed her away, making to escort her up to the higher levels. The wolf-man stood nearest to her, she could smell his rancid breath, feeling the vapour rise up her nose like a poison, she could hear his warped breathing and his mutterings, shuddering at the things he said. Earth corridors twisted and turned, and she felt that every time she was taken up these passages the way that they went changed as if the walls were too filled with a deep malevolence. As they went up the men talked about things they had seen and done, laughing about people whom they had tortured and mutilated, laughing about the lives they had changed forever. None of the disgusting specimens of mutants behind her had any kindness in their hearts, and Song found herself battling against the whole of her will so that she would not turn and attack them, she had learnt not to do so before.

Eventually they turned the last corner, and before them a vast hall opened out. The hall was filled with long tables and benches, some filled with bands of more evil mutants, staring at her as she was shoved forward. But these tables were not where they were going, and her gaolers pushed her to the very end of the hall, to where a huge chair stood on a platform, surrounded by ripped tapestries and weapons. At the instant she caught sight of the throne the fear rose up inside her; fear, disgust, malice and reluctant obedience fought each other openly in her mind as the stench of rotten flesh and the sound of a quiet, intelligent chuckling reached her ears. For on the throne sat a monstrous being, his skin powdery white, his black hair contrasting strongly with this blister-ridden surface from where rose a fetid reek. She looked at the floor, afraid to look into the man's eyes, eyes the colour of blood and war, eyes filled with a malice that outmatched even her own, the source of her pain.

"Mr. Sinister."

The wolf-man bowed slowly and awkwardly, and she felt the eyes upon her, demanding that she did so too. Stiffly she showed him her neck, hating every moment spent before him, swallowing the bile rising up in her throat.

"Songbreeze Jay Elewan."

It came out as a low whisper, but she heard it and stiffened at the sound of her name. Slowly she looked up, bluey grey meeting blood red as they regarded each other.

"I hear that you are refusing to do ask some of my men ask, may I remind you that you are here to pay back the debt you owe us."

There was no debt, they claimed that because they saved her life she should give it to them in return, but a flicker of a memory told her that in reality this man was the cause of her suffering and hurt, that this man whom she now reluctantly served deserved only death.

She looked at the eyes filled with intelligence once more, seeing slight humour there, he knew what she was thinking and it entertained him, she could tell. Whispers filled her brain, things she knew he said under his breath, the whispers directed at her were louder than any of the drunken noises that went on around her, manipulating her mind. She hated this, hated any power he had over her. _Useless girl, why do you struggle? Why do you not just give up and admit that I saved you, and that for this you love me in return, s_he hated him. _Your parents tried to destroy you, they did not warn you of the dangers that the humans could wreak. _Who were her parents? In that moment she could not remember, all she knew was Mr. Sinister and his voice. _They hated you, and it was the humans who killed your parents and your sister. The humans hate you and your gifts; they want to destroy you as well. _He knew that with his words he could hold power over her, that is why he did it, and the other men watched and laughed at what he did, the laughter bouncing around her skull. _They would have either killed you or chained you, forbidden you from speaking or uttering a sound. _This was a lie, she looked up at him and wanted to scream out how he was wrong, he forbade her from speaking, he killed her family, he was the evil one.

"That's not true." She muttered, unable to prevent herself from denying his claims.

Immediately there was uproar, she knew she had broken a rule, and saw Sinister's eyes glint with glee. She was set upon by two mutants standing nearby, who beat her hard until she had to bite her lip to prevent herself from crying out again.

"You have forgotten our pactOngewenst. I feed you and shelter you, clothe you and protect you from the humans who otherwise would destroy you, and in return you do what I say. Go and do as you are asked, if you are good I will talk to you tomorrow.. maybe I'll even give you a _treat_."

Song glared up at him as she was dragged away, hating his triumphant grin and the way that when he laughed at her, everyone else laughed too. She knew what these treats were, cleaning his rooms or watching them torture other helpless mutants, or even worse: being made to torture them herself as they watched her fight for her life.

Outside the hall she was left to herself, sighing she went to a little room down the corridor and took out a mop and other cleaning materials. Then she reluctantly began to clean up the disgusting wreck of a place in which her jailors lived, scrubbing hard at the filth on the walls and the floor until she was exhausted. Occasionally a band of mutants would pass her, and they would kick her or knock over her bucket, undoing her work. These she would meet with a glower, hating them and the place, hating the work and hating her life. People would come and go, but she was forced to stay, however she felt a great pity for those dragged past her screaming, undoubtedly on the way down to the cells below.

Gradually she worked her way round the ground floor, cleaning everywhere but the hall, and she descended slowly down the steps to the living quarters, knowing that the next day she would have to clean the cells, wondering whether or not that might be the place of her _treat. _She was glad that she would not have to go down there today, for the prisoners would laugh at her more evilly than the ones above, or worse, when the prisoner was good their moans constantly riddled their way into her ears, causing her to stop and shed tears for them and their state. Surrounded by such misery she could not cope, and sometimes she would cry out loud, causing a band of foul smelling men to beat her, while their laughter rose and rose in volume, almost deafening her.

Eventually her work for the day was done, her hands were coated in grime and her clothes looked like rags, but she would have only them until she managed to salvage more from escaped prisoners and tortured corpses. Every muscle in her body ached from the constant scrubbing and heaving of rubbish, the rubbish tip had been knocked over three times during the day and she had had to pile it up again and again. The tiredness her body felt was nothing compared to the throbbing in her skull, laughter and cackling danced around in her head until it was all she could hear, and the sight of her repulsive keepers had burnt themselves permanently into her mind. The stench of the corridors and of the corpses she came across coiled into her nostrils and made her feel ill, all she wanted to do was sleep and sleep and never have to think or feel again.

But as it was every day, she still had to endure taunts as well as passes for her from those in her room. She was forced to bear listening to them play card games and make sick jokes while she tried to sleep, but she was so tired that she drifted off to sleep despite their best efforts. The other mutants made sure that she did not cry out in her sleep, but she still was sent on a rollercoaster ride of dreams and memories in even her deepest sleep. At night her memories came alive and tortured her, old ghosts spoke to her in her dreams and she relived every moment of her life, the painful parts hurting her almost as much as the joyful, and her sleep was fitful.

_When she heard the noises, she rolled over and stared fearfully at the people around her. There were four men, each staring at her with an evil gleam in their eyes, each with a matching smirk on their faces, each snickering under their breaths. The closest, a foul smelling wolf-man, drew nearer, and kicked her side and beat her head. Song's eyes closed slowly, blocking out the horrible sight of the men, who all seemed to have disfigurements and blistered skin, and fought the sleep and pain overcoming her. She felt hollowed out inside, as if the tide of sorrow and fear had cleared out her insides leaving an empty space, so hollow that the beating didn't seem to reach her senses anymore. _

_The rest of the men crowded round her, each yelling at her to get up or be beaten further, but she shut out the noise, breaking down inside herself, wanting to die, wanting everything to be over. She instinctively knew that these were the people who had killed her family, and that they wanted to kill her too, and so she just lay there and let them, she was too tired to fight back._

_But a new sound entered her head, the sound of someone softly walking across the sand towards them. Through tear filled eyes she looked up, her eyes seeking the approaching person. As he came the men fell back, bowing their heads and made a pathway through to her. She tried to see him, but her eyes refused to focus as if they too had given up. Her heart started to beat faster in her chest and fear welled up inside her, even the sound of the wind and the sea lessened, all she could hear were footsteps._

_Suddenly everything was silent, the footsteps stopped. She painfully craned her neck to see what went on, forgetting her decision to stop trying. But then a face came right up to hers, and she froze with horror. This face was not like any face that she had ever seen before, it was a deadly white, whiter than snow and whiter than white, and the flesh seemed to craw over itself, constantly remoulding and rearranging itself in what appeared to be a grin. The stench that arose from the man's skin made her feel dizzy, but the worst thing to her were the eyes. They stuck out of hollow sockets in his face, a red deeper than red, the colour of blood. As if sensing her fear, the man laughed and stood back, allowing her to take in the whole of his appearance. His skin was pale and blistering allover his body, his hair black as night and slicked back, and nails of a matching colour came from his fingers long and sharp. He was grinning, and each tooth was sharper than a knife._

_Song was paralysed with terror, unable to wrench her eyes away from this figure of nightmares, all she could do was stare. Eventually something within her snapped, and as she looked at the monstrous figure she let out another scream. This scream had more effect than the last, her grief and pain were now mixed in with a new element: fear. As she screamed she failed to notice the men around her collapse, themselves screaming too as the sound entered their heads and battled inside their brains, shutting off their senses one by one. The monster let out a shriek of rage and ran towards her, fighting against the seemingly solid sounds, and struck her, knocking her out._

_When she woke she found herself bound with tight ropes in a small, metallic room. It was cold and hard all around her and she found it hard to breathe with the panic rising up inside her. The ropes hurt her and she struggled violently against them. As she did so she alerted the men crowded at one end of the room, who rushed towards her and kicked her until she stopped. One man, the wolf-man, ran out, she assumed to fetch again the monster. She heard him approach slowly, his boots making a clicking sound on the floor. As he walked into the room, she looked up, fighting the urge to scream again. He regarded her slowly, and she shivered as she saw the cruel intelligence in his eyes. She saw him sneer, and he knelt down to face her, talking to her in a calm, malevolent voice, a voice that crept inside her mind and hung onto her senses. _

"_I bet all you want to do now is run away, I bet that and I know it's true. You want to run away just like your parents did: your cowardly, dumb parents."_

_Song let out a low hiss, she knew that this was the one who had killed her parents, she had guessed it already. The others were too stupid to have done so. _

"_They tried to save your sister, threw themselves in front of my blast, told her to run away."_

_His voice had a cool, calculated edge to it, his intelligence made her even more fearful._

"_But in vain, my dear, in vain. The stupid fools only caused their own death and the prolonged suffering of Emily. But then again, it was to destroy them that we went, so I suppose it was alright in the end."_

_This man was foul; she could feel hatred for him oozing out of her bone marrow and into her bloodstream, spreading out around her body._

"_But they are in the past, my dear. As you can see they are now dead and you are very much alive, you led us to you yourself, which was very helpful. However we need to address an issue."_

_Suddenly he gripped her arms, his long black nails drawing blood as they dug into her skin. His face came closer to hers, and she could smell his rancid breath._

"_That scream of yours, it hurts my head. If I ever hear you scream again, if I hear you speak, I will personally see to it that you are in considerable pain. Do you hear me? Uttermost pain, you will not even be able to blink after I am done with you."_

_Tears came to her eyes as she nodded, seeing his smirk of satisfaction._

"_Good. In return for me sparing your life, you will give it to me. From now on, I own you. From now on, everything that I say, you do. Do you understand?"_

_Again, slower this time, she nodded. She understood his threat perfectly well; she had seen what he had done to her parents. She wanted to avenge them but felt that she was not able to do so, sensing rather than knowing that she should first find out this man's weakness. _

_Seeing that he had got his point across, he tore his nails out of her flesh and stood up, leaving her on the floor._

"_You're in charge of her; if she utters a sound in her first few days, kill her."_

_Song collapsed on the floor, uttering silent tears, filled with equal hatred and fear. She had no doubt that this man would be cruel to her, and she feared for her future. Most of all, she cried for her sister, Emily, for she had no idea whether she was alive or dead. _

Midnight found Song asleep again, after having been woken by an old nightmare. It was reoccurring, every day for four years it came. She did not know if it was true or a product of her warped imagination, but she hated it. It reminded her of her past and of the difference of the life she now led, and most of all it reminded her of a fact that she tried to forget. Emily haunted her dreams, talking and laughing with her, chasing her up and down a sandy beach half-forgotten in long lost realities. Her sister never left her alone, never letting her sleep.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N much as I love Mr Sinister, it's HORRIBLE trying to write his dialogue and descriptions! Bear with me.

Song woke up later than usual, uncommon silence surrounding her. It was impossible to tell the time for the room had no windows, but she knew it was late because she felt somehow refreshed and no one else was around. After getting up slowly, she washed her face in the chipped sink, wondering where everyone was and why she had not been harshly woke as always. From the mirror her reflection looked back at Song's puzzled expression, taking in her matted hair, the dirt on her face and the bags beneath her hollow eyes. Furiously she scrubbed at the grime that covered her, rejoicing that she did not have to endure her jailor's gazes; and eventually, half satisfied, she looked around the room, puzzling at its empty state.

A noise made her jump, and suddenly a man she had never seen before appeared in the centre of the floor, and struck her cheek. She started back in fear and pain both from the hurt he had caused her and the look on his face, taking in his glinting eyes as well as his greasy hair; the way he was standing told Song what he though of her.

-Finally, I've been waiting for you to rouse your lazy self, he smirked.

Song could tell that this man was different from those who normally watched her, and must have been higher ranking for his accent was smarter and he kept himself clean. He wore trousers and a shirt with a long, blue cape; his face was painted blue and black and his hair was red to match his eyes. To look at he did not seem evil or cruel, but the way he spoke told Song that he was just as bad, or possibly worse, as the others.

-What you staring at, love? Wouldn't like to keep the master waiting now would we? He laughed cruelly and as he did his arm stretched out to an abnormal length, grabbing her and pulling her towards him until she was right up close to his face. He chuckled maniacally and she could smell his foul breath, feeling its stale warmth on her face and shuddered involuntarily. He felt her shudder and grinning at her malevolently stretched his body so it went all around her, almost smothering her before he let her go.

-Let's go see him, shall we?

Before she registered what was happening the mutant rolled her up in one of his stretching arms and pulled her up through the corridors, towards Sinister's hall. He greeted other mutants as he passed, all of whom seemed to show him some respect. Song almost fainted as he unwrapped her and threw her to the ground, recognising the low chuckle that greeted her.

-Good morning, Miss Elewan, he rasped.

She bowed her head to the floor, not wanting to look into his eyes.

-I have a request to ask of you. She looked up, puzzled. His voice grated on, We have a small _annoyance _that we need to rid ourselves of, and we believe you may be of help.

She regarded him with silent surprise, his face held no hint of humour: he was serious. She nodded slowly, his mouth curled into a grin.

-Good, this is what you will do. We have known for a long time that there is a mutant snooping around outside our base, after trying to dispose of him numerous times and having lost many followers, I have concluded that this mutant is in need of special attention. I've been watching the way he fights and have come up with a way to capture him. The band needed to take care of it is waiting outside; all that is missing is someone with the capabilities of slowing him down or stunning him. Being aware of your abilities I know that you are suitable. Do you follow?

Song nodded again, not following.

-This changes nothing in your position. George here is in charge of you for this task.

The mutant who had brought her there sniggered.

-Charmed, he laughed, bowing with a mocking air.

Mr. Sinister's head snapped back at her suddenly, causing her to start backwards in fear.

-This is not a field trip, you are to obey every order, you are to do _anything _and _everything _that you are told. If you try to escape, we will drag you back and kill you, if you show any happiness at being outside these walls, you shall be punished.

George's sniggering grew louder as she nodded again; she was being passed onto someone potentially worse than Mr. Sinister and all three knew it. Silently she followed him out of the hall, head bowed to the floor.

Outside, the clouds coated the sun and sent down gifts of sweet raindrops, soaking Song in happiness. In spite of her situation she felt like laughing; being watched by the band of mutants was not exactly freedom but she was outdoors properly for the first time in two years. Everything she saw was beautiful, trees with a gauze of mist surrounding them, the dew on the grass and the sound of the birds. She could just make out the mountains with iced peaks that surrounded the valley and sheltered it from the Antarctic landscape. Even though the place was her prison, the Savage Lands were stunning.

A few years ago she had explored the area thoroughly, taking food to mutants in camps and to some of the tribes who served the self-appointed king. But that was until she was kept inside, and she had forgotten about the land outside with its seemingly impossible wildlife and landscape, and its rugged beauty amazing any who passed through it.

-Oy you! Concentrate.

A strike on the back of her head from George's hand brought her back to her situation and the band's mission. She had no idea what it was that she could do to capture this mutant, and knew she didn't want to do it. The band she was with were all George's own: the wolf-man, Hairbag, Slab and Ramrod, each were big men, thoroughly capable of carrying out any punishment that was needed for her. There was absolutely no way of her being able to escape, not that she could go anywhere. Even she knew where the Savage Lands were, and why it was chosen as Mr. Sinister's stronghold.

The group came to a stop and gathered around George while he assessed the area. Immediately Hairbag and the wolf-man starting fighting each other, a common practise between them, and the noise they were making hurt Song's head, she had just adjusted to the noises of the valley being so far away that it was like someone was beating her head when the two made a noise. She was confused by the clamour and couldn't tell where anything was coming from, and so she stood right in the way of the two fighting. One of them hit her really hard in the stomach, and immediately they were pulled apart by George.

-What do you think you're doing? I'm trying to think.

The two found it hard to reply, George had wrapped himself round them both so they couldn't speak. He released them and both mumbled an apology to him and also to Song, who still couldn't hear properly.

-Alright there missy? Wouldn't want you to die on us would we?

She nodded, adjusting again to the sounds, a bit surprised by what he had said.

-After all we still need you for a bit, he added, and then they can do whatever they like.

Song shuddered as he grinned at her mischievously, she hated people like this: the ones who were nasty in a polite way always confused her.

-Right, now we need to concentrate on finding this mutant. Last time we saw him he was around here somewhere, next to the bank over there. I doubt he is still here, but we should be on alert, he was a quick little buggar.

With their minds back on their goal again the group set off, with Song following reluctantly behind. If the mutant had been around here, she thought, it was certainly a good spot. They were near a stream, so he could easily sneak up on people with ordinary hearing, the water would cover his scent, and also there was good cover provided by the trees. As they passed a bend in the river Hairbag pointed to an area that had been trodden down; amongst the obvious tracks of a herbivore were the smaller footprints of a human.

-Haha, clever buggar. But not quite so clever as Hairbag. The monster let out a low, wheezing laugh and proceeded to follow the footprints, stopping when he got to the river bank. Hairbag doesn't understand, he whined, why are there no longer markings?

-Because he's clever, and you're an idiot, George hit him on the back of the head from a few metres away. Tracks are covered up by water, that's why we'll find him by the stream.

Before they set off again, Song was distracted by a strange noise. Noticing her hesitate, George signalled for everyone to stay. She strained her ears to work out where it came from; it was the unmistakable noise of metal on wood that was coming from further in the forest on the other side of the river bank. She nodded to George and pointed in the general direction.

-How far away?

She held her arms far apart, a long way. George grinned and immediately signalled for silence. They then proceeded to cross the river slowly and headed towards the direction of the noise, trying to be as silent as possible.

-Mr. Sinister said that the mutant has a good sense of hearing, he explained quietly to Song. Hopefully you will soon hear the noise stop as he begins to become aware of our presence, and then he should head this way. We were informed that he likes to attack with stealth, but if you continue to alert me about his position we should get him in no time.

She nodded slowly, not liking the idea of fighting a mutant who had the same abilities of her. As she trod on the ground she wished for the noise made by the group to disappear, but to their surprise as they approached the place the mutant did not seem to stop its activity.

After a short while she noticed another, lower noise from far off to the left. Stopping for a bit to figure out what it was, she realised with a jolt that it was the rugged noise of someone breathing. She tried to get George's attention, however he was already ahead, intending to catch the mutant by surprise.

As George jumped into a clearing, he noticed that there was no one there. Looking around, he suddenly caught sight of two knives tied to a sting hitting the trunk of a tree repeatedly, creating the noise Song had heard.

-_Buggar._

He turned around, intent on beating her within an inch of her life, when abruptly he was hit from the side by something very heavy as the other mutant attacked him.

The others noticed the trick a lot later, and Song watched as they stood in the middle of the clearing, wondering where their leader had gone. She, however, moved backwards and sidled off to the left, keeping herself hidden in the bushes as she went. She could hear the two mutants fighting each other, and approached them gradually. She could see that George was winning; despite having caught him by surprise the other mutant wasn't able to hurt his puttylike body, every stroke he made merely hit thin air. She studied the other mutant slowly. He was quite short but well built and obviously very strong; every time he was hit his wounds didn't slow him down at all. He was attempting to cut George with strange knives he held in his hands, not giving any less effort than that with which he began.

She became distracted again by loud crashes occurring all around her, the other band members had finally found their way to where George and the mutant were. The mutant became instantly alert as he heard them coming, and having made one final lunge at George jumped back into the forest. The others immediately went to him, failing to notice Song hidden in the foliage. She caught their whispered conversation, most of which was abuse to the others and their obvious stupidity.

-You idiots! Why did you not follow me?

-The noise wasn't the mutant, said Hairbag gleefully. We searched the area to confirm this and decided to come and tell you.

-Of course it wasn't the mutant, you pillock!

-Oh?

-The noise that blasted girl heard wasn't the mutant! It was just some trap laid up for us.

-Oh.

-Talking of which where is that wretch? I feel like squeezing the life out of something.

Song let out a gasp of fear when she realised that it was extremely likely that she was going to pay for this, her fault or not. However the movement was blocked in her throat as she slowly felt the cold edge of a knife make its way round her throat.

-Gotcha.

Song froze; the mutant they had been tracking had managed to sneak up on her while she was listening to the others. He had a strong grip on her arm and around her middle and she couldn't move an inch, she could feel his breath on her forehead and the knives where making their way to just below her chin.

-Call them off, he whispered.

She shook her head quickly, she wouldn't be able to call them off even if she tried.

-Call them off, he snarled, digging the knife in further, causing blood to trickle down her neck; she gasped in pain.

She shook her head again, shaking now.

-DO AS I SAY.

-HA! I FOUND THE WENCH!

Suddenly George propelled himself into the area where Song had been hiding, eyes mad with rage. Not even noticing her position, he kicked the mutant out the way and started hitting Song around the head repeatedly.

-This'll teach you to hide from me!

Song curled into a foetal position, trying to protect herself, trying her best to bite back tears.

Immediately there was a snarl from behind and the mutant threw himself at George, resuming the fight they had ceased earlier.

-Oh, you again, George smirked at the mutant. Come back for more?

As the two mutants fought each other, Song managed to scuffle back and out of the way. The others soon found their way to the battleground, Hairbag, Slab and the wolf-man throwing themselves into the scuffle while Ramrod headed straight for Song. She tried to get up to run away but found that the undergrowth had wrapped itself around her arms and legs.

-Useful isn't it? He said, coming closer to her.

The scene was all too familiar to Song, and as the strange mutant hurled himself at Ramrod she could hold it back no longer. She threw her head back and screamed.

Some time had passed before she woke up, finding herself slung over the wolf-man's shoulder once again. She had a pounding headache and could barely see, only just making out where they were as well as the image of the strange mutant slung over Hairbag's shoulder, unconscious. She knew by the movement of the riverbed that they were not far away from Mr. Sinister's hall, and guessed that nothing install for her was going to be good and smiled weakly. It wasn't how she'd hoped it would turn out, she would have liked to have been granted permission to go outside again.

Her carrier must have noticed that she was awake, for with one short blow to the head she was out like a light again.

What must have been a few hours later, Song was woken up by a stabbing pain in her side. Opening her eyes she saw that the door to the room was open, George framing the light coming through the doorway. He was wearing an even more malevolent grin than he had that morning.

-I'm glad I was the one to be here when you woke up.

His leg, stretched out, struck her side. She now knew where the pain had come from. He grabbed her and brought her right up to his face.

-That bastard hit me! He hit me! Do want to know why he hit me? He hit me because you lied! You led us in the wrong direction, making it so that that bastard could attack us!

His grip on her arms strengthened, crushing them.

-Anyway, he loosened his grip reluctantly, I've been told I'm not allowed to hurt you now. Mr. Sinister has devised a punishment for you. I'm to take you to him. His eyes glinted with disappointment, she could tell what he really wanted to do was rip her apart there and then. Well, he added, I'll take you.

He set her down on the floor and turned away up the corridor, and she followed him meekly. All his airs and jokes were gone, the malice behind George's act had slowly been revealed to her during the day and was now laid open. She followed him all the way to Mr. Sinister's chambers, where they found him sitting down on a chair, sniggering to himself.

-Miss. Elewan, he chuckled.

She nodded her head.

-Good to see you're here in one piece. You may go, he added to George, who left with a snarl.

Song stared fearfully after him, even he was nicer than the monster she was alone with now.

-Well, your expedition was successful, the mutant was captured.

She nodded again, easing her guard slightly.

-It turns out he was a spy, a very dangerous one at that. His capabilities would have allowed him to get away from any scarp unharmed, the only way of stopping him was the way in which you dealt with him.

Song looked up, surprised.

-Yes, I had planned for it to all go that way. This mutant has very good hearing, and I thought that your voice may overpower his poor brain cells. It took many hours for him to wake up again.

She was confused, this was not going as she had thought it would.

-However, his eyes flashed, it was not very nice of you to harm a band of mutants who I hold in high regard, was it?

This was what she thought would come.

-You caused a huge amount of damage, and the Nasty Boys are _extremely_ angry, I'm sure they would not even need my order before they killed you. Who could imagine the pain they could inflict upon you if only they were allowed, as limb by limb they destroyed you.

He began laughing maniacally.

-They're not called the Nasty Boys for nothing you know! I have personally witnessed Hairbag and Slab rip off someone's arms! It was wonderful; their screaming filled the whole valley and those beyond! Oh the speed at which they did it, you'd hardly notice.

Song backed away from the crazed mutant, his laughter ringing in her head as his eyes became redder and redder. The noise was becoming too much for her and she had to try her hardest not to cry out, the pressure building up.

But suddenly he stopped, staring at her again.

-But I won't let them do that.

She let out a sigh of relief.

-I'd much rather see you suffer for longer. You see, the Nasty Boys were not the only people who you had the pleasure of pissing off. There is another. As soon as the mutant we captured woke up, he raged and raged, asking for the mutant who hurt him. He became extremely angry, I'm afraid my prison cells will never be the same again. Mr. Sinister sighed, I'm sorry to say that the only thing that calmed him down was the promise that we'd send the culprit down right away to be dealt with in the way he liked. He calmed down right away after that. Can't be helped, I suppose. His eyes lit up again, I'll send you down immediately, is that all right?

Song stood still, unable to answer.

-Send my regards to our friend.

She turned to run, but George met her at the entrance, dragging her down the halls and down all the flights of stairs to the basement below. She struggled but he wrapped his arms around her, forcing her to be still. As they came to the bottom of the final staircase she heard the grating noise of a cell door being opened, and she was thrown in.

Looking around, she could not see much, but slowly the sound of someone chuckling crept into her ears. Immediately she was thrust against the bars, the mutant's hands around her throat. To her fear and amazement, she noticed that he wasn't holding any knives, but that there were metal spikes coming out of his knuckles on both hands. With his right hand he cut her cheek, snarling with rage.

-Is it you who did that to me? He growled.

Song nodded, trying to ignore the pain in her neck and face.

-Say it out loud, he threatened, tightening his grip.

She shook her head, she wasn't allowed to speak, even now.

Just like last time, she thought. Reacting to someone attacking her two years ago had cost her freedom to roam outdoors; this time it was likely it would cost her life.

_At midnight on New Years Eve, two sisters lay side by side in the grass, staring at the stars. The air was cold and the air was bitterly clear, every breath they took leaving passages of steam in the sky. Song lay on her back, studying the constellations and listening to the soft sound of music floating through the air from the village below._

_-Emily?_

_Her name caused the other sister to turn her head_

_-Yes?_

_The two studied each other for a moment, staring deep into the other's eyes as Song fought to form the question in her head._

_-Have you ever thought of us as strange, too different?_

_The younger turned her eyes back to the sky, _

_-I don't know, I always though of us as-_


	4. Chapter 3

_-more"_

The two of them gazed into each others eyes, one fiercely and the other full of fear. Song could feel the cold metal against her skin, pressing down further and further. The mutant was still snarling, eyes menacing and alert, his breathing ragged. She thought with terror that that was it for her; she was going to die in the dungeon, killed by a mutant she had wrongfully harmed. Closing her eyes she took a deep breath and waited for death to come to her, aware of every breath, aware of every beat her heart made, aware of her love of life.

Yet death did not come. Slowly the mutant closed his eyes, slowing his breathing and gradually lowering the claws. As Song's neck became free she gasped, then watching as he backed away, still snarling. The claws retracted into his skin, her heart slowed and she moved her head a little from side to side. Then she lay there crumpled on the floor, watching him, his back turned. She could see he was still very angry, his snarling and grunting got louder and louder, hurting her ears as he seemed to battle with his rage. Then keeping his back to her, he knelt down on the ground.

"DAMMIT!"

She jumped at the sound, shocked. The mutant pounded his fist on the floor; thrashing it with the force that she imagined would have been turned on her. After staring at it for a few minutes, he stood up and retreated to the other corner, sitting with one knee up and one leg stretched out on the floor, his head in his hands. Meekly, Song looked at the place in the floor that he had struck, seeing to her horror that a huge hole had appeared in the floor. She did not stir until she heard snoring coming from the corner, and then stared openly at the hole, wondering what he would have been able to do to her. She did not know if she would last very long in this place, every sound made her jump, every movement caused her to shake with fear. Everything was dark, she could only just make out the figure of the sleeping mutant, unable to see what he was. Song did not know how long she would be kept down there, or whether she would still be alive when she came out.

Trying to keep awake and alert for as long as possible, she tried to think of any possible way out. But no matter how hard she tried the thoughts clouded in her head and she fell into a fitful sleep, her clever ears still catching every sound: the dripping of the water off the pipes, the snoring of her cellmate, the scurrying rats, and the evil cackling creeping down from above. She was enveloped in the darkness, dreams full of screaming and cackles, fighting giant blurry figures in her deepest memories.

She woke again slowly, dimly aware of the hard ground beneath her. With her eyes still closed, her hands explored her face and neck, feeling for anything wrong. She counted three cuts, a large bruise and a black eye. Then gradually she stretched out all her limbs, wincing as she realised how stiff and pained they were. Then she opened her eyes, taking in the area surrounding her. To her shock she suddenly remembered what had happened the day before, and the horrors she had endured.

She was in a small cell, dark with no windows and a smell of damp and rats. To most it would have been silent, but she could hear creaking, drips and moans surrounding her, deepening her misery. Everything was dirt and rank, the walls wet with moss and slime and rodents openly ran about the floor.

Eventually, she allowed her eyes to travel to the far corner of the cell. Her whole body jolted as she saw the mutant lying there, staring at her. Panic set through her as she saw the hole in the floor and the claw marks on the wall, she had hoped that maybe the mutant had been moved, or that he had just been a nightmare. Evidently he was not. She edged backwards, away from him, only to find her path stopped by the bars. The mutant grinned slyly,

"Morning, kid."

Immediately she stopped panicking, the mutant's voice had a note of friendliness in it, despite its gruffness. She met his eyes, which hollow and emotionless as they were displayed a hint of humour. She stared at him, puzzled. He seemed old yet young, around thirty to forty years old, but looking as if he was used to living in the wild. His hair was dark brown and ragged, his face harsh with a strong jaw. Most of his clothing was ripped and dirty, his appearance slightly animalistic overall. He met her gaze for a while, and then turned away with a grunt.

"Stop looking at me, I'm still not sure whether I should rip you up or not."

Song gulped, he turned his head back to her and grinned evilly, showing some pointed teeth. He shifted his weight to the other leg and spread his arms out wide, revealing his claws. Song desperately tried to back away more while he smirked, retracting them again.

"I don't know what you're doing in a place like this, kid, but I guess you have your reasons. Would have been nicer if you hadn't near deafened me though."

She didn't know how to react to this mutant. He seemed to want to kill her but was being, in a way, nice to her. She didn't know whether he was just making small talk before he turned upon her and killed her, or generally was interested. There was something about him that, despite all appearances, she liked. He didn't seem evil.

Suddenly a bang came from upstairs. Although she knew it would have been a low sound, it caused her to jump and realise that there were still other people around. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the other mutant twitch slightly, and turned to him wide-eyed, hoping that he wasn't about to attack her again. Instead they stared at each other across the room, as the same thing dawning on them both. Song knew that the sound she had heard was small and would normally be inaudible, but this mutant had heard it as well. She now realised why she had been picked to capture him: he could hear minute details, just like she could. He would have heard all the noises in the cell during the night, alert to them as she was. His delicate hearing would have caused him to suffer terribly from the scream she had let out; his head would probably still be throbbing, clouding his thoughts.

"I get it." He grunted.

She nodded, hoping that this new information wouldn't cause him to try to kill her again, he looked like it would.

"Are you gonna say anything?"

She shook her head, he growled.

"Fine by me, if that's the way you want it."

The mutant snorted gruffly, and withdrew his gaze. Song looked away at the wall, wishing that she hadn't had to hurt him. She wished that she could talk to him, but she didn't know what effect it would have. The only words she had spoken in four years had been said when out of control, but they had been quiet, and she was afraid of the power that her voice had. Four years of beating and fear meant that the idea of using her voice caused her to tremble, lest a guard came running around the corner. She covered her face with her hands, wondering whether or not a normal person would let out a cry or a moan in such circumstances, she didn't know. She no longer felt able to make a sound, even if she wanted to. When she removed her hands she saw the mutant stare at her again, she looked away, not letting him see the tear running down her cheek.

A long time was spent in that cell; Song knew not exactly how much time had passed. The only way of telling the hour was by the food that was occasionally shoved under the bars by a masked mutant. Over that time she grew less afraid of the mutant in the cell who spent almost all his day sleeping, pacing and marking the wall. He had not tried to engage in conversation again, and she got the impression that he usually didn't spend much time in the company of others. She herself rarely moved but spent her time hugging her knees with her back to the bars, occupying the same corner. She had tried a different corner once, but she hadn't liked it, having grown accustomed to having the ridges in her back. She mainly thought about what had happened to her, and the time she had spent before being kidnapped by Mr. Sinister, the usual memories of Emily haunting her mind. Once, she had felt a small tugging at her mind, as if she was answering, but felt that it was a mere ghost that she sought. She didn't know why the images wouldn't leave her mind and willed them to do so, wishing that she could sleep once without waking from an evil dream. Her cellmate slept more soundly than her, and he never slept.

"So," he grumbled, yawning. "Why don't you speak then? I would have thought that you would have summoned the courage to talk to me by now. I'm getting bored of myself, kid. I've known me for too long."

Song merely shrugged her shoulders, trying her best to convey 'I don't speak' into an expression.

"What do you mean you don't know, kid? Aren't you even gonna say your name or anything?"

She shrugged again.

"Are you scared of me still or something?"

She had assumed that, after a couple of weeks, he would have realised that she wasn't really afraid of him anymore. She still jumped when he used his claws, and he had demonstrated a bad temper, but she knew he no longer wanted to kill her. She had been more afraid of other things.

He was staring at her again, she realised he wanted an answer. She shook her head, but then tried to show him her name by drawing tracing it in the air.

"What?"

She traced it again, backwards this time so he could understand it.

"Music?"

She shook her head again, and he laughed gruffly.

"It's like a game of bloody charades: TV, film, book. Are you trying to convey the name of a song or something?"

She nodded enthusiastically, he grinned.

"Is it just the word "song"?"

Song nodded again, smiling.

"Nice name, kid." He said. "Mine's-"

Suddenly a loud crashing noise was heard from above, they could hear screaming and the noises of a fight. Her cellmate stood erect, listening hard to what was happening while Song covered her ears in pain. It was clear that something big was happening upstairs, they could hear people dashing around on all floor, up and down stairs on all levels. Deafening crashes rained down as they heard walls destroyed and floors broken through. Screams resounded from everywhere, and Song could pick out voices that were very different from the harsh ones that she was used to.

She saw her new friend grin wildly and he glanced at her quickly before banging his claws against the bars, causing her ears to be filled with so much noise that she thought her ears would burst. He ran towards her and shoved her upwards and towards the bars.

"Ignore the noise and make as much as possible, kid, then they'll know we're down here."

He then went back to bashing the bars, and Song joined him, filled with hope. After a while, he pulled her back.

"They'll know we're here now, and my ears are killing me. We don't need to do it any longer."

Gratefully she sat down, and they listened to the uproar from above, which was moving fast down the levels of the building. She found that if she tried, she could pick out certain voices when she wished. Focusing on the newer voices, she listened to them with anticipation.

Eventually they heard banging coming down the stairs, and a guard rushed in, looking petrified. Before long the source of his fear came crashing down, not through the door but through the wall. Song stared at the mutant who stood at a height of at least seven feet tall. Slightly fearful she took in his huge metal body, amazed that he could still move. The mutant stared at the guard for a while as if deciding something, and then enveloped him in his arms, crushing him to death. She watched the guard fall to the floor with a moan, and began to wonder whether this mutant was actually good or not. He stood up and shook himself, and then turned around to look her right in the eye. She managed to hold his gaze until he turned his attention to her cellmate, who was sitting back down in his usual position, looking amused. The other mutant grinned.

"Well, well, who would ever have thought I'd find you here, eh?"

His accent was strange to her, she guessed it to be Russian, it was very thick but had a warm feel to it. She knew instantly that he was a good guy.

"Took your time, didn't you Colossus? Could have found me sooner."

"I'm sorry, maybe next time you tell me and I'll know to come."

The mutant winked at Song and she grinned back, happy that he wasn't there to kill him. Colossus flexed his metallic muscles and came to the bars, causing Song to get up and scramble to the other side of the cell. She watched in amazement as he took the bars and bent them one by one until there was a hole.

"Maybe I just make it the right size for the young lady?"

"You do and you'll never see the light of day again you rusty tin can"

Colossus laughed and, after waiting for Song to get out, began to make the hole bigger.

"Don't bother, bub."

The mutant came up to the bars and slashed them with his claws, and they fell to the floor with a bang.

"Why didn't you do that before?"

"Didn't want the kid to get hurt."

Song blushed, she hadn't realised that he had been capable of escaping all the time. He grinned at her and pointed up the stairs.

"Freedom, kid."

Colossus looked at them with a bemused expression on his face, and then headed out the hole in the wall.

"Some others are upstairs, we came to clear the rat out of his den."

They ran up the stairs, coming out into a scene of complete chaos. Mutants were screaming, running everywhere to try to escape the building. Many were fighting each other to reach the exit. Song could see no sign of any mutant that looked like a friend of Colossus.

"They are on the upper level." He explained.

Colossus then led the way out of the tunnels which Song knew led the wrong way, she tugged on his cold arm and pointed down another corridor, Colossus looked uncertain.

"Trust the kid, Colossus, I think she knows her way round here."

"What about you?"

The mutant's eyes glinted red and he stabbed a passing mutant, turning back to them and licking one of his claws.

"Play time."

Colossus' face was grim, but he nodded to the mutant and began to go up the corridor. Song stared at the mutant whose face was almost unrecognisable.

"See ya round, kid."

He leapt into the fray and she lost sight of him, and after staring at the crowd for a few moments she felt a tug on her shoulder, and turned to follow Colossus up the corridor. Her feelings became elated as she realised that if all went well, she would be free of this place. All her pains disappeared as she ran up a flight of stairs, feeling well prepared for whatever was to come.

They came out into a room that she recognised as the great hall. Looking around she saw Mr. Sinister's best in one corner, fighting with some mutants who she hadn't seen before. Colossus headed straight for them, slapping backs and grinning. There were four of them, a tall guy with shoulder length blonde hair, who was shooting something out of his hands, stood next to a boy who somehow had split himself into three. On their right was a girl, who when a mutant threw a knife at her seemed to let it passed through her, coming out the other side. The man on her right seemed to be made of ice, and he was throwing ice daggers at the other side of the room. Song was amazed, these five mutants were the ones who had caused so much trouble. She recognised some of their opponents, the Nasty Boys among them, all of whom she knew were unchallengeable.

She stayed behind them for a while, hidden behind an overturned table, and watched as eventually the Nasty Boys fled out of the hall into the corridor. The strange mutants looked to run after them, but were stayed by Colossus' hand.

"Wolverine's there."

The four stopped, looking amazed, and then turned to go into Mr. Sinister's chambers. Colossus went after them and she stayed, forgotten. She didn't know who or what Wolverine was, but he must have been pretty dangerous if these mutants had left all of those to him. She was scared of being mistaken and killed by either side and stayed hidden.

After what seemed like ages, she heard the sound of someone approaching. Not knowing who it was, she crouched down so as to make herself more hidden. She knew if it was her mutant, he would hear her and find her so she would be alright, but if it was bad she could stay from harm. She didn't move a muscle as the person moved closer and closer to her hiding place. She could tell it was a male by his breathing, and he sounded out of breath. She froze as he paused as if he had heard something. She curled up into a ball as the table she hid behind was thrown across the room, revealing George behind it. Seeing her, he grinned maliciously, her heart froze in fear.

"Well well well, what have we here?"

She made as if to run, but he caught her.

"There's no running away, missy. You have no friends here, and you can't scream."

Saying that, he slashed her throat, causing pain to run through her as blood began to poor out. Then he grabbed her roughly, laughing, and threw her to the floor. She stiffened as she realised that his hands had begun undoing her clothes and he walked towards her, smirking.

"I should have finished this a long time ago, dearie."

With a flash, she realised why she recognised his face. This was the mutant who had attacked her two years ago, after which she had been forced to stay inside. She was sick with the irony of it, revolted by the feeling of his hands on her chest. He lunged upon her while she lay there stiff with the pain. Losing blood was causing her to become dizzy, so she barely felt him undo her trousers until he was nearly there; she was flooded with revulsion but could do nothing, her eyes closing slowly as her brain tried to shut out what was happening.

"Stay quiet now." He whispered in her ear, well aware of her growing unconsciousness.

Suddenly she heard another sound coming from near the door, and wondered who else was coming to claim her. But George was shoved away from her and her whole body relaxed with relief. Over her stood her mutant, eyes filled with concern.

"You alright, kid?"

Her eyes must have told him enough, and he turned and stabbed George through the chest as Song gathered herself back together, filled with embarrassment and revulsion at the state she had been found in. She was eternally grateful to this mutant for saving her, no longer afraid of him. He faced her and held out a hand, which she took appreciatively as he pulled her through the hall toward the chambers of Mr. Sinister.

"Come on" he said as she faltered, afraid to go inside, still shaken by what had happened.

But she took courage as he squeezed her hand and looked into her eyes again.

"Come in" he repeated, and then tore off part of his shirt and gave it to her. "To stop the bleeding." He said.

She had forgotten about her neck, and tied the cloth round gratefully before following him inside.

She had never been allowed in before, and was not surprised to see that Mr. Sinister's chambers were furnished far better than the rest of the building. Everything was covered in expensive furnishings, cloths and tapestries. Ugly ornaments and weapons arrayed the walls, some still covered in a crusting of blood. From everywhere rose the stench of Mr. Sinister's rotted flesh, causing Song to feel ill again, reminded of his horror. Bravely she followed the mutant as he went cautiously through every room, searching everywhere for signs of life. At last they heard the sound of a battle, and ran through a door to find Mr. Sinister fighting off the four strange mutants and Colossus.

None had seen them enter, and Mr. Sinister had his back to them, about to make an escape when he was surprised by the mutant landing on his back, claws dug in. He screamed in pain but then turned, laughing and unhurt.

"What a pretty picture this is, my slave and my prisoner come to defeat me. It's a pity that an animal cannot scratch a master with pitiful little claws."

Hearing his voice and his laugh caused Song to quake in fear; however she knew that she couldn't run. She watched as he walked towards her, throwing the mutant against the wall and blasting the others with energy blasts. She backed against the wall as he came closer, putting his hand around her chin.

"Now," he hissed. "Why don't you come with me? I don't think that the company of weaklings and an animal would really be best for you, after living so long in luxury with me, do you?"

Song tried to avoid his eyes, but found herself nodding against her will.

"Good, now don't forget: you do owe me your life."

How she hated his voice, she felt it manipulating her mind as before, causing her to nod herself slowly while fighting to shake it instead.

"Now, come."

She found herself following him, sending a pained look at the mutant, who was following their movement with a grim expression.

"Sinister" he growled, pulling himself up. "Where do you think you're going?"

He turned with a grin on his evil face.

"Why, my dear Wolverine, I thought y-"

He faltered, swaying from side to side and then slowly falling to the ground. Two pairs of eyes met across the room as the two culprits acknowledged each other. While Song had turned and hit the evil monster with a chair, shattering it on his skull, the blonde mutant had sent a beam of energy from his hands, making a hole in Mr. Sinister's chest. Everyone stood still for a while, staring at the body on the floor, before they turned their eyes to Song. She met their gazes with a reluctant grin, happiness swelling through her, realising she now knew her saviour's name, before swaying to the floor, unconscious.

The mutant rushed to her, seeing that she had fainted from lack of blood. The others swarmed around him as he picked her up and swung her over his shoulders, and then they left.

Song was awoken by a light shining in her eyes, startled to find herself in a strange room. The room was of a kind she had never seen, an opposite to the grimy halls which had been her home for four years. First of all it was full of light, not blinding but soft and warm, sending joy through her heart. The walls she saw were made of wood and the furniture of the same material, covered in soft cloths. The walls were covered in paintings and tapestries, but not of the sort that Mr. Sinister had had, instead of being dark and morbid these were happy and bright. All around her were things that looked like they were linked to healing, causing her to remember and put her hand to her throat. The wound was gone. She felt her face, no cuts were there, and her body the same. She felt no pain, only comfort, and rejoiced.

A sound from the corner of the room caused her to look over, catching sight of a girl sitting on the windowsill. Song immediately thought that she was beautiful, every movement graceful as she turned the pages of the book she read as if they were lace. She took in her appearance, her hair was a shade of brown under a cap, and the clothes she wore were slightly boyish, but still appearing graceful. On her lap lay a small, black cat, one that reminded her of one she had had when she was little, Mimi. She wanted to talk to her, if she could talk after her throat was slashed. The memory made her stiffen a little; she never wanted to remember that experience again.

Her movement must have alerted the girl, for she jump and stared at her, eyes wide. While she moved her hat slid off her head, revealing, to Song's amazement, a pair of cat ears on her head, and even stranger, blue roots. Something stirred in Song's memory as she watched the girl blush and jam her hat back down firmly onto her head, and she suddenly remembered dreams of a past long forgotten. Staring right into the girl's eyes, she tried to move her mouth, slowly regaining the feeling she had lost so long ago, finally managing to say the name which she had so long treasured.

"Emily?"

**(I'd better get long comments for this…. took me so long and I'm exhausted.)**


	5. Chapter 4

"Emily?"

The girl immediately stiffened, blushing deeper and staring adamantly at the ground, refusing to meet her eyes. Song tried to sit up slowly, reaching her hand out toward her sister, who was slowing drawing back toward the window again. Then, without warning, she turned and disappeared into thin air. Shouting carried up from below, and she trained her ears to what was going on, she could hear someone yelling the name "Moonshadow", and the sound of someone running outside. She could immediately tell from the sound of the footsteps on the ground that she was not in a town or any developed place, the noise of the person running was more like a cat running on woodland floor.

Song did not dwell on this however, for her total concentration was taken up by her sister. She somehow knew that the girl had been Emily, the hair and the eyes had triggered a memory, she just knew it was her. The ears definitely weren't human, but she had seen so many strange people that she no longer thought that bizarre, what she did find strange was her behaviour. The Emily she knew would have come up to her, eyes filled with excitement, running to embrace her and talking about anything that came into her head, she would never have run away or looked so distant. The image of her on the windowsill was graceful and comfortable, she had looked completely peaceful and absorbed, she looked like the time since they had been separated had been spent happily, but she was at the same time so different.

All the emotions from the last four years flowed in her, no longer reigned in. She knew that Emily was alive, the nightmares were not real. Even if she had changed, she was alive and that was all that mattered. All confusion over the way she acted would soon leave when they met again; she knew that she would be met by the youthful, joyful girl she had always known.

She lay back down in the bed watching the ceiling and thinking, slowly falling asleep, watched all the time by a pair of blue eyes from the trees outside the window.

After hours, when she woke again, she heard the sound of someone outside, and the eyes that had been watching her were gone. But then her attention was taken by the sound of someone, or something, walking up a staircase, and then down the corridor toward her. She could feel an incredible tension in the air, as if all the particles were excited, and there seemed to be an aura growing, pushing all feelings and creatures away from it as it moved. She knew that something important was coming, and tensed as the handle on the door began to move, the air around her buzzing more and more. She felt as if her entire life depended upon that door opening, the particles around her screaming with excitement and happiness she knew that only she could hear.

The door opened to reveal the biggest feeling of calm that she had ever felt in her entire life, a feeling that would take her a long time to get over every time she felt it. Standing in the door was not an especially wonderful looking creature, but it expelled a natural, alive feeling from every part of it. It looked like a panther, but stood on its two hind legs like any normal person, with humanlike features in the face and the arms and legs, dark fur hiding the sleek, steel-like muscles underneath. But Song knew that she couldn't see it as just a panther, and definitely not as an "it", the feeling it radiated, and the intelligence and feeling in its face and bottomless blue eyes showed that it was no dumb animal, and definitely not human or mutant, but more than human, more intelligent and knowledgeable and understanding than anything else that existed. As soon as her eyes met theirs, she felt as if she had been bared to the very bone, the very soul, but the feeling of calm and assurance took away any fear. As before, she found it hard to find any way to speak, but this time it wasn't out of inability but instead out of pure happiness that was pressing in on her, a feeling that she knew she was meeting someone who would know everything about her, who she had known all her life, but she eventually managed to ask,

"Who are you?"

The eyes looked at her, and she felt lost in them, as if the entire universe was kept in them. She was following her own memories, running up and down the beach, playing in the woods, reliving her birthdays one by one, the expressions, the laughter, the bliss. These memories then evolved into her dreams and nightmares, images of Emily, her time spent in Mr. Sinister's halls, her escape, her fall. Then suddenly she saw nothing, but what she felt was more real than anything she had ever felt, streams of pure emotion swam through her veins as she spiralled through space, experiencing what she felt must have been the creature's feelings and experiences, the knowledge of the universe rushing past her as she fell, heading towards an immense light from which everything was originating. But as suddenly as she was lost, she landed in herself again, her breathing fast, and was surprised to see the creature wink at her, a grin appearing on its face.

"Now don't be so cautious, your memories and feelings are so guarded and complicated you may find it easy to lose yourself again, without finding a way out."

Song didn't understand what it was saying, or what she had seen or felt, she didn't know what was happening inside of her. The voice was quiet, but felt heavy inside her head; it was definitely the voice of a female.

"That, I would say, is correct."

Her expression became one of puzzlement and confusion, and the creature laughed heartily, the noise shocking Song as she realized it was the first thing the creature had said out loud.

"I would say that I am no creature as you believe, and definitely not an "it". My name is Nightshade, and I've come to see how you are."

The name felt familiar to her; as if it was a name she had known all her life. A feeling came over her, a feeling of uttermost safety and comfort; as if she knew that she would never be in danger for as long as she was near the source of that feeling. Nightshade looked at her and smiled,

"I see you remember me."

"Yes, I suppose I know you from somewhere, but I have to confess I don't know where or when."

Song felt herself smiling, something she had not really done for a long time, she then knew that she had never really forgotten how to.

"I go to see almost everyone at least once in the course of their life, but not everyone remembers me, especially not humans. Your gift, I suppose helps you to remember some experiences more clearly than others."

Song felt that that was correct, and winced as she remembered the sound of the moaning coming from the burnt houses in the villages, the creaking of the trees where her parents had been hung, and the evil cackle of Mr. Sinister. But she remembered only for a moment, because instantly the feeling of calm overcame her fear and unrest. Nightshade seemed to notice the look in her eyes, and she felt a glipse in her mind, for she made as if to come toward her, but stopped herself quickly.

"You are welcome to stay here for as long as you like, if you want. I came to see if you were alright, and to lay out your options before you."

"Options?" she felt confused, she didn't really understand where she was, or what she would do next. The thought hadn't yet occurred to her that she now had her entire life ahead of her, and freedom to choose.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to throw you out."

Nightshade went toward the window, and looked out for a while, thinking. She could see Moonshadow hiding in one of the trees, watching, and smiled before turning back to the other twin.

"Well, all you need to think about is where you want to go. Your sister is here and has stayed here since I found her. She went, and still goes, to a school in London in England, which she chose to go to along with a few others who are in my charge. The education is free and will enable her to decide what she wants to do in later life. Other options are that you could stay with a family and be brought up by them and they will help you in your life, and that option comes with another choice." She looked at her with a fixed expression, "if you live with a family, you do not need to have any ties with me or anyone else here in future. You can choose to forget everything that happened to you with Mr. Sinister, I can give you that relief. You could choose to feel a part of that family; you could choose to have nothing to do with mutants again after your experiences." She looked away again, "If you don't want that, then you may lay yourself open to help other mutants and people. Many who I've helped have chosen to live their own lives, but have offered their services if help is needed in that particular area, and I call them if necessary. Of course, there are many other options that you could think of, I could help you with almost anything, and you don't need to decide right away. None of the choices are wrong; it is up to you to decide."

Song lay back in the bed; she felt that that was a lot of information, so many things she could choose. Her thoughts immediately leapt to her sister, what she had chosen, she wondered how she had reached that decision from so many, what had influenced her, if she was happy. She knew that she had no idea what she could do, the idea of forgetting was so tempting, to be able to begin her life again, without the suffering she had undergone. She did not know what to think. She could sense Nightshade's eyes on her, and felt as if she knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Well, you don't have to decide right away, as I said, you can stay here for as long as you like, if you come downstairs then there will probably be people to talk to, or not if you don't wish to. I have to go myself, call me when you've decided."

"Wait, first, could I ask you some questions?"

She was fixed by a piercing glare, and the feeling of being searched came back again. A while later, Nightshade moved her gaze away.

"Your first question was that you wanted to know your gift?"

"Yes, please."

She moved closer to the bed, almost instantly a chair appeared out of mid air, and placed itself on the floor, Song tried to hide her surprise as the panther sat down, it was solid.

"As you have probably guessed, your gift lies with sound."

"Yes, I think so."

"I can see how it first rooted, and the need to find your family and distress when you saw your parents must have caused it to accelerate. Particles and waves of sound are aware of your presence, and when they sensed that you were in need, they all rushed to help you."

"Sound particles?" this sounded unbelievable to her. "They're conscious?"

"Conscious, yes definitely. I expect that they underestimated the shock that it would cause to you, and to your surroundings, when they chose to join you. They tried to help you by bringing any sounds which may have helped toward you, and anything you may have said to others, but they didn't know how this affected your surroundings. Normally, when a mutant has exceptional hearing, it's because they have well developed senses, but with you it's because you are able to communicate with things that normal people don't know are there. With time you should be able to control this, I mean you're talking now without deafening me aren't you? You should also be able to work out how to dampen the sound, and to focus on particular noises at any range. Your voice will always carry an influence, I'm sure you could imitate anyone you wanted, or create a particular tone. You should probably know how to carry a tune too."

Song had never really understood what she could do before, but she liked the idea of being able to do all those things. The problem was that she had no idea how; she had never been told how to use this. But Nightshade seemed to have thought of this too, because no sooner had she thought this when the panther started talking again,

"Of course your recovery period here would involve me or another helping you to understand this, I'm not going to put someone out into the world without and idea of how to use their gift. Don't worry about it."

Nightshade was smiling at her, a motherly smile that made her feel calm, until a sharp twinge in her chest made her realise that she had never really been smiled at like this before, and never would again, it was an idea she didn't like to explore. She almost flinched as she felt something on her arm, waking her from her thoughts, until she realised that Nightshade had put her hand on her arm, reassuring her. Her eyes were sorrowful, so much meaning and knowledge were hidden in them, Song knew that she must have seen some horrible things in her life, as she knew Emily would have since she last saw her. Reminded, she opened her mouth to ask the last two questions, but Nightshade cut her off.

"You want to ask what happened to your sister while you were captive, but that's something I cannot tell you myself, it's up to her. The other question I also won't answer, at least not now. I will show you over time who I am, but for now know that I will always try to look after you, call me when you know what you're going to do, you will probably be here for a while anyway."

With that she stood up and left the room quietly, the chair disappearing as she did. Song stared at the door for a while, wondering where Nightshade had gone. The feeling of calm lingered in the room, as the atmosphere seemed to slowly quieten down. She had a feeling that the black panther could read minds, and that she was more powerful and wise than anyone else she had encountered. Underneath the calm she had sensed humour and mischief which she had liked a lot, and realised this was because she had the ability to detect feelings and tone more accurately than others. After thinking about her new found abilities for a while, she rolled onto her side, burying her face in the pillow and then burrowing further into the bed. Wherever she was, it was a better place than where she had been, and she knew that she was in good hands. No one had yelled at her or turfed her out, her sister seemed to be happy and that was enough for her. With that thought, she shut her eyes, and fell back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 5 The Awkward Breakfast

Hello, another random part of the chapter that is about five pages long, and not very interesting either, I'm afraid.

I know that Annabelle isn't really a very original character, but she was the first (after Nightshade) that I ever made up… and was me (hence the name) and I love her loads, even though her personality quit whining and comment anyway)

It ends really suddenly because it's continued in the next chapter and is a kind of, "so, you're still alive" so shh

It was a while before Song picked up the courage to leave the room; she hadn't even looked out of the window to the ground below. She had noticed the pile of clothes on a table across the room when she woke up, and just going to get them had taken courage she wasn't aware she had. The clothes were brilliant, the first time she had had proper, clean clothes in four years. They were just a pair of blue jeans and a pink top, but when she tried them on they felt perfect, fitting her and seeming as if they were made for her. Although she thought she had already studied the room from the bed, she noticed a mirror in the corner, and it took yet more of her courage to approach that as well. Taking a deep breath, she stepped towards it, hating the idea of her haunted, sunken image staring back at her. To her relief, it was a normal face that scrutinised her back: she was clean and healthy looking, with not much other than a serious weight gain needed. She felt herself smiling again, realising that her reflection didn't look that bad. This gave her more courage, and before she knew it she had reached out for the door knob, turning it slowly as Nightshade had done when she first came in.

Song had no idea what was going to be behind the door, whether it was good or bad, and felt her hand shaking as she pulled the door open, looking out what was behind it. A long, slightly rickety, corridor lay before her, with doors dotted at various places in the wall, each a different size. Although she knew that the corridor was huge, she felt that she was within a confined space, recognising now the feel of the sound waves she was emanating coming back to her, showing her the shape of her surroundings. It seemed almost as if the entire space was crammed into a much smaller one, confusing everything around it.

She noticed a stairwell going down to her right, spiralling down. Everything was made of wood, but not varnished or polished wood, everything looked like it was still alive, naturally growing that way; there were no planks or boards, everything seemed continuous. Also, although there weren't many windows, everything seemed to be perfectly lit, unlike the corridors and halls she had been used to, with the damp and barred windows. Courage growing still more, she placed her foot on the top step, slowly and cautiously walked down the stairs, tracing the smooth wall with her hand as she went. At the bottom of the stairs she found herself in a huge room which seemed to be like a kitchen, everything still seeming to be made out of the same piece of wood, still seeming to be squashed into a tiny space. Looking around, she saw cooking things in the little area she had presumed to be the kitchen, but realised that the room was actually a lot bigger, around to the right there was a large area that looked like a sitting room/ dining room, everything still natural looking. Then she noticed that someone was sitting at the table near the kitchen, holding a newspaper in front of them so she couldn't see who it was, but she noticed something familiar about him, noticing again the sound waves around her coming to her, helping. But she suddenly stopped, courage draining out of her again as she realised that she had no idea where she was or what she wanted to do, and immediately turned to run up the stairs.

"Hey kid."

The voice made her stop, memory and relief rushing in to replace the fear and panic that had been rising in her. She turned around to see Wolverine's face grinning at her over the top of the newspaper, and smiled back. He also had improved his image since she had last seen him, looking scruffy but a lot cleaner, at least he was smiling.

"Hi."

"I see you've summed up the courage to start talking, kid."

She no longer felt rooted to the spot, and went towards him and hugged him tightly. He looked slightly shocked, but soon smiled again, putting his arms around her awkwardly for a moment before letting her go.

"Glad to see you too."

She smiled at him before sitting down at the table. She looked around her, no longer feeling as nervous as she did, and flashed a huge grin at her companion, who grunted back at her.

"Why are you looking so happy?"

"I don't know, shouldn't I?"

He laughed and ruffled her hair, a gesture with which she was unfamiliar but felt that she could get used to.

"You're alright, kid. I guess you've got to be alright to survive the treatment you've had."

The grin on her face vanished, she hadn't thought about that for a while, memories began hitting her one by one, and the immense feeling of fear swept over her again. Wolverine must have noticed, because he rapidly changed the subject.

"You know, I never told you my name did I?"

"Wolverine."

He looked shocked, "Where did you hear that?"

"Colossus said it when we escaped from-" she didn't want to say the name.

"Well, that's just a nickname they have for me. My name is Logan."

"Oh, right. Mine is Songbreeze."

"I guessed right then, nice name."

She stared at her hands on her lap, not knowing what to say next. She was then distracted as she noticed a huge packet of Cornflakes sitting on the table before her, and suddenly realised how hungry she was. A loud growl from her stomach must have said as much to Wolverine, who gruffly laughed and told her to help herself, laughing more as she filled a huge bowl, also on the table, up to the brim and started shovelling spoonfuls into her mouth.

"You know there's milk in the fridge?"

She looked up; it wasn't Logan who was speaking. A guy in his early twenties was staring at her, grinning, next to the fridge, a milk bottle in his hand. Song blushed, and stood up slowly to take the milk from his hands, immediately recognising him as one of the people who had attacked Mr. Sinister's hall.

"Thanks."

Throughout these proceedings Logan had turned his attention back to the newspaper, apparently ignoring the young man. As he sat down at the table opposite her she studied him slowly, mind taken off the food in front of her if for only a moment. The man had honey coloured hair with deep blue eyes behind long lashes, and lightly tanned skin, his voice when he spoke was low and slightly slow, his words flowing awkwardly.

"Where did you dig this one up from then, Wolverine?"

Logan grunted, as Song's ears reddened as she realised he was referring to her.

"You were there."

The man suddenly looked embarrassed as well, turning to her slowly.

"I'm sorry; I have the worst memory. Nightshade says I may just as well be a goldfish."

"That's ok."

Immediately a grin spread over his face as he shook his head quickly, before stretching his hand out to her.

"No it's not, it's incredibly rude of me to talk to or about you before I have properly introduced myself, I'm Alex Summers."

"I'm Songbreeze."

They shook hands and Logan turned the pages in his newspaper, cursing quietly as they bent over. Alex looked at him briefly and turned back to her, smiling.

"Just ignore him, he's a grumpy buggar."

"Oy."

"He's never polite to anyone, although he seems to be acting alright to you."

Song nodded, hiding her grin from Logan, who was now glaring at them both.

"I didn't catch your last name, what was it?"

"Oh, it's Elewan."

The room went quiet for a bit, tension building quickly and then disappearing again at the sound of her name, though Song had no idea why. Alex's grin faded momentarily, but then returned stronger than ever.

"So, what do you think of this place?"

She looked around, glancing at the room again. "I have to confess I have no idea where I am."

"Oh, Nightshade hasn't talked to you then?"

"Briefly."

His whole face lit up suddenly, and he rose from the table, reaching out for her hand.

"Well then, if Wolverine will excuse us, I'm going to show you around. Have you been outside?"

She shook her head shyly, not entirely sure if she was yet ready to brave the great outdoors. He seemed to see the fear in her eyes and shook his head back at her.

"No getting out of it, after you've seen this place you'll see no point in the rest of the world."

"Ignore him, it's a slight exaggeration," added Logan, turning the page in the newspaper again.

Alex made a face at him, and grabbing her hand, ran to the door and opened it dramatically, before shoving her outside and closing the door behind him.

Song's breath was caught in her throat as she looked around her. She had been right when she had guessed that she was in a forest, but she had underestimated it entirely. Around her huge trees sprung from the ground, reaching as far as the heavens and that were wider than many people. She knew that she was in one of the huge forests that she had read about in books when she was younger, surrounded by trees older than most human civilisations. It wasn't just the trees that she marvelled at, but also the buildings in them, laying on buildings and platforms, connected by ladders and bridges. There were masses of them dotted amongst the trees around her, all made from wood, and she saw people moving between them. No one paid them any heed, a few waving at Alex or staring at her. The ground around her was littered with leaves, grass and small flowers as if it were a huge garden, and it felt like it would have been tended by giants. Turning slowly, she took in the place from where they had emerged, and walked backwards little by little as if it would help her to take it in. She now understood why it had felt as if it were living, for a huge tree, bigger than the others, stood before her, with a proud looking Alex standing by it, looking very small. It was a tremendous sight, and betrayed no signs that it was lived in inside, especially seeing as, huge as it was, it didn't look like it could fit everything in.

"What do you think?"

She turned to him as if woken from a trance. "What is this place?"

"This is Nightshade's wood, and a haven for a lot of mutants without homes or escaping danger."

"I don't understand, how is that tree able to contain.. all that?"

He looked pleased that she had asked that question, "It's a little trick that Nightshade did, she made it bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. It's like a final defence, no one can tell that people live inside it."

She didn't feel that she could take it all in; she wanted to run around and let out the emotions inside her.

"Alex? What are you doing you moron?"

Song recognised that voice, and her face lit up as she turned around.

"Emily?"

Her sister stopped suddenly, looking embarrassed and confused as Song embraced her, she didn't know how to react to her being there.

"Hey."

Alex looked a little awkward, and disappeared back into the tree with a brief wave.

"Coward." Emily muttered under her breath, Song heard it and blushed, pausing momentarily before launching herself at her twin.

"How are you? What happened to you? I don't believe you are alive! Why did you jump out the window? I thought you were dead."

Song felt everything gushing out of her; she was so filled with joy. She stopped jabbering however as she noticed Emily's face, fixed and sad, staring at the ground.

"I, er, I missed you Song." She stuttered.

"I missed you too, more than you can imagine."

Emily looked more embarrassed, some people walking past stared at them, and she dug a hole in the ground with her foot. Song didn't know what to say, she didn't understand why her sister was being so unresponsive, seeming to be so uncaring.

"I am glad you're here." Her face was earnest, eyes pleading at Song to believe her. She had never expected the day to which she had been looking forward to for so long to actually happen, she felt awkward and shy seeing her elder twin in her new life, familiar yet unfamiliar in the surroundings.

Song, for her part, was confused but didn't ask questions. She just looked into Emily's eyes, trying to understand what was wrong, but was disappointed as Emily mumbled an excuse and turned away, waving lamely at her before walking away.

"Bye."

Emily looked back at Song; not understanding why part of her was rejecting her, but knowing that she didn't really want to fight it. She hid behind the trunk of a tree for a while, watching Song stare at the ground for a while before turning and going back inside. She let out her breath, trying to relax before turning and sprinting into the wood.

All Song wanted to do was sleep for a long time, and to just forget about everything. At that moment in time she found Nightshade's proposal of starting over very tempting, even though part of her revolted violently against it. She closed the door behind her and smiled feebly at Alex and Logan, who were sitting at the table. She reached for a chair and sat back down, staring rather sullenly at the now extremely soggy cornflakes in the bowl.

"So, what do you think of the forest?" enquired Logan, staring at them both as if wondering what on earth had burst the happy bubble.

"It's, erm, great." She replied, slowly chewing the soggy mass.

"Alright then." He said, glaring at them both again.

Alex didn't look as happy as he had before, he did look slightly guilty though, but his face lit up again soon,

"Anyone for tea?"

Logan grunted and Song nodded, still trying to swallow the cornflakes lump. He sprang up and put the kettle on. Song felt the bubbles of curiosity spring up inside her again.

"How come you have electricity here?"

"No idea, don't care" grunted Logan at the same time as Alex said "Ask Nightshade."

Song still had no idea who, or what, Nightshade really was, but had realised by now that these two weren't going to be that useful in that respect, so she picked an easier question.

"If there are so many people here, why have I only seen you two in here and a few others outside?"

"Because you haven't been looking hard enough."

Song let out a scream and stood up quickly, flinging herself into Alex, away from the table, the bowl of cornflakes falling to the floor. A girl about her age was hanging, upside down, from the ceiling above the table where Logan was sitting unmoved and looking annoyed. As she had asked the question, suddenly this girl had appeared, right in her face, scaring her half to death. She was hanging from what seemed to be a thread, and when she caught her eye she grinned wildly and waved energetically before turning in midair and landing on the table, ripping Logan's newspaper.

"Oy" roared Logan as she leapt away from him, landing on the floor next to Song and Alex, who by that time had remembered to push her away. Logan was standing up, facing them and snarling, claws extended. Alex immediately leapt up to calm him down, leaving Song with the strange girl.

"Sorry to scare you, I came in the room and heard you talking, and thought I'd say hello."

"Erm, that's ok." she had no idea who the crazy girl was, or what she was doing there. At least she had answered the question about whether or not there were any other people around, she just wished she had done it in a more- normal way.

"I haven't introduced myself have I? I'm Annabelle, and you're Song."

"Hello. How do you know my name?"

"Eavesdropping, I guess. Oh and I guessed from Moonshadow's description of you. She talks about you a lot, it's like I know you."

"Moonshadow?" Song was beginning to feel uncomfortable, and slightly dumb. Logan and Alex seemed to have made some sort of peace, and were now listening intently.

"Moonshadow is Emily, it's a nickname." Alex contributed.

Annabelle nodded, "exactly."

Song looked at her closely, she looked normal enough, but then again so did most mutants, as she presumed her to be. Her hair was long and dark brown, her clothes messy and hole-ridden, and her eyes a deep black. As she smiled Song noticed that her front teeth were slightly pointed.

"I'm glad that she remembered me." she said, annoyed with herself as her voice was dripping with sarcasm. The others looked uncomfortable, Logan just looked grumpy.

"Don't be too hard on her. She just wasn't expecting you to turn up right now, she doesn't often find it very easy to react to change."

"Ok, whatever." she felt slightly annoyed with this girl, and Alex, feeling that they didn't have the right to know more about her sister than she did herself, jealousy beginning to pulse through her veins. She pushed the feeling down and smiled, however, allowing herself instead to enjoy this strange company.

"I'm off." Grunted Logan, "see you later, kid." He went out of the door and slammed it behind him.

"I guess you annoyed him slightly." Said Alex, turning to Annabelle, who grinned.

"Really?"

After recovering from her initial shock, Song felt herself liking Annabelle immensely. She scolded herself for feeling so low earlier, and for snapping. She felt that Alex and Annabelle must be good friends, they played off each other well. She watched her teasing him as he made the tea, them joking together, and felt slightly lonely again. But as Alex handed her a mug filled with tea, she smiled and began to feel herself joining in with the jokes and laughter, realising that they must be used to having random strangers hanging around in this place, she didn't even know if they lived here or not. At least they were friends of her sister, if she was still friends with her. She pushed those thoughts out of her mind, for now, and blew on her tea to cool it down.

"Like it? It's Nightshade's own special brew. We're not allowed to touch it, but we do anyway. She knows we do."

At that moment Nightshade herself walked through the door, and the packet of tea flew to her outstretched hand. Again, Song felt overwhelmed by a serene feeling, smiling at Nightshade as she thought about it. The panther approached them, looking stern, before an expression of mock fear suddenly appeared on her face,

"I see you've been adopted by members of a bad crowd, get out while you still can."

A cup of tea appeared to appear out of midair into her hand, as Alex let out a squeal of dismay as the tea he was about to drink disappeared.

"So, I'm glad to see you're walking around, and happy."

Song nodded, and smiled, sipping her tea, finally beginning to feel at home.


End file.
